Hurt
by olive.eyes
Summary: Based off S4x21 "She's Come Undone" Oneshot What if the girls never found Aria at Ezra's? What if someone else got there before they could?


**Based on S4x21 "She's Come Undone". Someone else finds Aria in Ezra's apartment, and it isn't the girls...**

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It's hard falling in love. It's hard to give yourself to someone so completely, so your flaws are as broadcasted as a neon light. Then comes the stage when you're in the honeymoon period, everything is perfect, and nothing could make it better. Then arguments start. It's the ultimate test for the modern relationship. Then it gets hard again because you have to fall in love with them all over again, new and improved flaws included. It's even harder when they break your heart. That's how Aria felt. She had trusted Ezra completely. The nature of their relationship required trust. Their relationship was dangerous. He could lose his job, and go to jail. And she was so in love with him just for taking this chance with her. She had even told him about the Jenna thing, for Christ's sake.

And still, he had taken her heart and stamped on it so spectacularly that she couldn't imagine ever feeling good again. Honestly, she would rather face 'A' with nothing to protect herself with than deal with this. And staring around the apartment that she'd just trashed completely, she knew that nothing could stop this. And so she burst into tears, sobbing at the relationship she'd lost, and the boy she thought she knew.

Honestly, who did that? Who lied to her, spied on her friends and set up cameras to watch over her? Who would watch her suffer the notes from 'A' and not do anything to prevent the pain that she'd been caused? And why, if he claimed he loved her, would he lie about the fact that the day they met he started to scheme and lie and deceive her.

Nothing was real. That was all she'd learned.

And now her phone had text messages that were piling up. Every single message she couldn't bear to open, all from the unknown number that she'd deleted a few long days ago. They'd started by saying things like 'I'm so sorry, please let me explain', and had now evolved into a plain and simple 'sorry'. But nothing was plain and simple anymore. The files of information she'd found on herself had proved that. Photos of her on her way to meet him, happy and completely oblivious to the deception that was going on a few metres away from her, probably in a car she'd stupidly ignored.

Nothing was real.

She could feel her phone buzzing, but from where she was kneeling she couldn't reach her hand for it. Instead, she fell onto the floor she'd walked across after school, and on the weekends. She fell in the apartment that had felt like her own for a while, and let new tears ripple through her. She heard a sound from over by the door and went silent, sucking in a deep breath before looking up to see the man she never wanted to see again.

He scanned the apartment, the broken glass and ceramic plates, and didn't flinch, didn't even groan. The resignation in his face showed her that he knew he deserved it. He looked the exact same that Aria did, and she couldn't decide whether or not this made her happy or not. Of course he should suffer- he broke her heart in the most painful possible way. However at the same time, she still loved him, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up into his arms and cry.

She noticed that he hadn't stared at her like a wild animal yet. She hadn't moved or made a noise, so maybe in the mess of things he hadn't seen her yet.

She saw him freeze, looking to his desk. Wondering what he'd found, her eyes followed him as he ran to the desk, picking up a picture frame and allowing his eyes to well with tears. His back to her, she slowly sat up, accidentally allowing her boot to crunch some broken glass, and he span around, hearing her for the first time. She saw the photo in his hands then. It was the photo of them, together. The photo she'd smashed his cabinet to get to.

"A-Aria?" He asked clearly, clinging to the picture for dear life, the broken glass cutting into his palm. She nodded, and he nodded back, staying still as she rose to her feet, her legs shaking. Tears were rolling down her face.

"I came to find you." She stated as clearly as she could. Her voice rang more confident than she'd thought it would, and she internally thanked herself for the strength she'd managed to pull together. "You left a supply teacher in your place"

"I was in New York with my publicist"

"You were in New York with your publicist?" He nodded, confirming the truth. Aria felt her eyes burn with tears. She shook her head, not having enough energy to fight about that as well. "Then I found your research." Her voice cracked, and she looked away from him, motioning towards the bed, where the papers were scatting over where they used to sleep.

"Aria-"

"Don't." She held up a hand. "I don't think anything you could ever say or do will ever change this."

"I love you." He'd blurted out before she could stop him. She choked a sob, falling again as the words she couldn't control fought their way to her. The sweet poison had already killed her, and the walking corpse that she was could not handle his declarations.

"You don't, you can't or you wouldn't have set me up this way." She cried into her hands, and Ezra took an unsure step towards her, judging her reaction. She lifted her face to show him what he was doing to her, the pale face with dark circles under her eyes, and the tears streaming down her face, marking the lines that felt engraved into her skin from the days and nights spent crying. Seeing her red skin and broken expression, he fell to his knees.

In the time that Aria had known Ezra, she'd seen him break down once, even then refusing to look at her. He was an emotional man, but he refused to cry in front of Aria. This was different. The broken sobs were painful to listen to, and sounded so _wrong_. Aria felt a pull towards him, to do everything in her power to stop this man, the man she loved, from being so broken. Before she could move, he flicked his red tear stained eyes to meet hers.

"I'm so sorry, Aria." The words rang true. "Not a day goes by that I haven't regretted keeping that book a secret. I can't regret the book, because without it I would not have met and started to see you."

Aria opened her mouth to speak, but Ezra waved a hand at her, letting another tear fall down his face.

"I was so incredibly wrong that I will never forgive myself for this. Until the day I die I will regret hurting you Aria Montgomery, because I know I will never love someone like I love you. No one compares to you, and I hate myself for doing what I have done."

The only sound in the room was Ezra gasping back sobs as Aria entered a state of shock, unable to process the speech that Ezra had just given.

"If you regret writing the book, why were you meeting your publicist?" Aria asked, her voice eerily smooth.

Ezra looked up, wiping his red eyes. "I was returning the advance they gave me, and meeting with everyone to announce my withdrawal of my crime novel."

Aria paused, before slowing crawling towards Ezra. "This is in no way, shape or form a forgiveness, but for a little, can you please hold me?"

Ezra's arms opened and she collapsed into them, holding on for dear life. Things had changed with Ezra, but maybe one day they could mend their broken relationship.

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